1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to gas burners, and is more particularly concerned with an improved burner for a gas grill, and a method for making the burner.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The burner in a gas grill, such as a barbecue grill, operates in an extremely difficult environment, in that the burner is subject to repeated heating and cooling. Along with the extreme changes in temperature, the burner is subject to high moisture, corrosive salts, and other items used in coking on the grill.
The interior of the burner is subject to the heating, cooling and moisture to which the outside is subject; plus, the interior of the burner is exposed to the corrosive action of acids that form from the gases used for combustion. Thus, both the inside and the outside of the burner are exposed to highly deleterious environments that cause corrosion of the material from which the burner is made.
There are many forms of burners for gas grills, including burners of cast iron, brass or the like. These are good burners, but are heavy, and expensive to manufacture; additionally, it is difficult to keep the gas ports open so the burners are somewhat difficult to maintain.
Burners are also made of sheet steel, whether stainless steel or other steels. Stainless steel of course lasts longer, but is considerably more expensive. Other steels are inexpensive, but the life in the environment of a grill is very short.
One recent effort at solving the problems of cost and life of a burner has been to fabricate the burner as two halves, the burner being made of inexpensive sheet steel, such as a zero carbon steel. The halves are assembled by hemming a flange of one over a flange on the other; then, the exterior of the burner is porcelainized for longer life. While this may be an improvement, the burner suffers from the fact that the interior is not porcelainized, so the interior is still subject to the corrosive action mentioned above. Those skilled in the art will understand that the interior cannot be porcelainized because the assembly technique cannot be used once the metal has been covered with porcelain. One prior art technique allows porcelainizing of a burner inside and outside after assembly, but that process is expensive and labor intensive. Other prior art burners have been made in two halves and spot welded together; but, this is not possible after porcelainizing because the porcelain does not conduct electricity. Thus, the prior art has not provided an inexpensive and durable burner for gas grills.